Abigail Hobbs on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Abigail Hobbs was a girl of about 14-17 years old when she was arrested for 
witchcraft
Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...
on April 18, 1692, along with Giles Corey
Giles Corey ( 16 August 1611 – 19 September 1692) was an English-born farmer who was accused of witchcraft along with his wife Martha Corey during the Salem witch trials in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. After being arrested, Corey refu ...
, Mary Warren, and Bridget Bishop
Bridget Bishop (née Magnus; 1632 – 10 June 1692) was a midwife and the first person executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials in 1692. Nineteen were hanged, and one, Giles Corey, was pressed to death. Altogether, about 200 peop ...
. Prior to living in Salem Village
Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...
(now Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...
), she and her family had lived in Falmouth, Maine
Falmouth ( ) is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area.
A northern suburb of Portland, Falmouth borders Casco Bay a ...
, the frontier of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
, during a time when there were many attacks by the Wabanaki Native Americans. Her father William and mother, Deliverance Hobbs
Deliverance Hobbs was accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. She and her husband, William Hobbs, originally came from Casco, Maine, which was in Wabanaki Indian territory.
Her daughter, Abigail Hobbs, was arrested on April 18, 1692 ...
, were also both charged with witchcraft.
During her multiple examinations by local magistrates between April and June 1692, Abigail confessed and accused others of witchcraft, including John Proctor. At her trial in September, she pleaded guilty to both indictments against her, one for afflicting Mercy Lewis
Mercy Lewis ( fl. 1692) was an accuser during the Salem Witch Trials. She was born in Falmouth, Maine. Mercy Lewis, formally known as Mercy Allen, was the child of Philip Lewis and Mary (Cass) Lewis.
Early life
Lewis and her family were refuge ...
and another for covenanting with the Devil. In her examination on April 20, 1692, Abigail Hobbs accused George Burroughs
George Burroughs ( 1650August 19, 1692) was a non-ordained Puritan preacher who was the only minister executed for witchcraft during the course of the Salem witch trials. He is remembered especially for reciting the Lord's Prayer during his e ...
, the previous minister of Salem, of being a witch. With the naming of Minister Burroughs, a well-respected member of the community, many accusations came forth and climbed up the social hierarchy.
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
William Phips
Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was the first royally appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and the first native-born person from New England to be knighted. Phips was famous in his lifeti ...
granted the Hobbs family a reprieve in January 1693, after Chief Magistrate William Stoughton had signed the warrant for her execution."Letter No. 2" (William Phips to Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea PC (2 July 16471 January 1730) was an English Tory politician and peer who supported the Hanoverian Succession in 1714. Known as Lord Nottingham until 1729, then as Lord Winchilsea. ...
, February 21, 1693), ''SWP'' p. 865 In 1710, her father, William Hobbs, petitioned the General Court to compensate him for £40 expenses that the family's imprisonment cost him but said he was willing to accept £10, which the court granted him in 1712. She was among those named in the Act for Reversal of Attainder by the Massachusetts Great and General Court, October 17, 1711.
Hobbs' confession is currently in the possession of the Philadelphia Free Library, willed to the institution by William McIntyre Elkins. It is currently stored in the Elkins Room on the third floor of the library in the Rare Book Department.
In popular culture
Abigail Hobbs is the name of a teenage girl who is the daughter and acts as an accomplice to her father's serial murders inHannibal (TV series)
''Hannibal'' is an American psychological horror- thriller television series developed by Bryan Fuller for NBC. The series is based on characters and elements appearing in Thomas Harris' novels '' Red Dragon'' (1981), ''Hannibal'' (1999), and '' ...
. Abigail later develops a complicated daughter-like relationship with Hannibal Lecter
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling ...
, and also becomes his confidant in his serial murders.
Abigail Hobbs was referenced in the 2010 song "Abigail" by American metalcore band Motionless in White.
References